Combing machine



Feb. 14, 1956 A. BOER COMBING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 24,1954 Feb. 14, 1956 A. BOER COMBING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov.24. 1954 INVENTOR. 4 EN,

United States Patent O 2,734,231 CDMBING MACHINE Arpad B oer, BuenosAires, Argentina, assignor to Briilotex Argentina S. A., Buenos Aires,Argentina, a corporation E Argentina Application November 24, 1954,Serial N0. 47 0,911

4 Claims. (Cl. 19-128) This machine comprises. a series of pairs ofrollers with overlapping prongs for positive feeding of the wool orother fibres from one end of the machine to the other, successive pairsof rollers having prongs of successively decreasing length and rotatingat successively increasing speeds, forming a speed gradient from low to,high in the direction of movement of theiibres which upon discharge fromthe machine are in separated conditionl ready for use in any desiredmanner.

Thus, the operation is effective and rapid in its action, Withoutadversely affecting the wool, as the stretching, being moderate due tothe dilerential action, yields under the repeated effect in the diierenttraction movements.

The manner in which the pronged rollers operate is important, since theycover a considerable width, thus enabling they reception of wool fleecein carpet form and effecting libre separation which increases the brevolume in relation to the speed. The progress of the separation of thelibres is such that when the machine discharges the material at itsoutlet, it presents the characteristics of a veil, the operations beingelected with the removal of foreign bodies, for, when the filaments areset free, they lose the power to-retain those foreign bodiesv which arelodged in the wool.

A preferred form of combing machine has been illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a general lateral view of the machine, showing the series ofpairs of rollers which are driven by a transmission with differentialspeed means for driving each succeeding pair of rolls at a higher speed,in such a manner that the wool is separated when passing from one rollerto the next, due to stretching and combing actions;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the assembly of the rollers, and

Fig. 3 is a detail of part of the series of pronged rollers graphicallydemonstrating the manner in which a separation of the bres isprogressively obtained.

As may be seen in the drawings, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h and i, are thesets of rollers which, arranged in series, forni the combing machine,the entrance to which is controlled by a conveyor belt 1 which carriesthe wool to the rst set a, whilst at its outlet, the machine is providedwith a single pronged roller 2 which is disposed at the unloading pointof the last rollers z'. Roller 2 discharges the wool on a conveyor belt3 which is provided with a dome-shaped cover 4 so as to avoid the llyingof the wool fibres discharged by the device.

All sets of rollers are formed in pairs, with their respective axesdriven by a transmission and arranged in such manner that the rollers ofeach pair operate in an opposite rotational sense.

Each roller is provided with a plurality of prongs 5,

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2 which are preferably radial, and, as may be appreciated, said prongsdonot atl any time make contact between rollers but are projected intothe spaces between prongs of the opposite roller. This projectingdisposition of the prongs 5 not only occurs between theA rollers of eachpair, but the prongs of the rollers` of one pair overlap those of thesubsequent pair, Without there being any contact between the prongs ofone roller with respect to the next.

The prongs of the first pair of rollers a are of greater.

radial length than those of the next pair of rollers b,whilst those ofthe third pair cv areslightly smaller than those of the second pair b,yand thus successively throughout the whole series of pairs. The prongsalso decrease in length gradually, in such a manner that the prongs ofthe last pair or set z' are those ofy least radial length.

The pair of rollers a has a very moderate rotational speed, say about l0revolutions per minute; the pair of rollers b has a speed somewhatgreater thanthat of rollers a; the pair of rollersc has a greater speedthan rollers b; the pair of rollers d has a greater speed than rollersc; the pair of rollers e has a greater speedA than the rollersv d; thepair of rollers f has agreater speed than those of e; the pair ofrollersg has a greater speed than rollers. f; the pair of rollers h hasa greater speed than rollers g and the pair of rollers has a greaterspeed than rollers. h. Furthermore, the progressive increase in speed ofthe succeeding pairs of rollers is arranged so as to permit the passageof fibres from rollers i to roller V2r which is rotating at high speed.Thus, for instance, the pair of rollers i rotates at revolutionsperyminute, vwhereas the roller 2 rotates at a speed several timesgreater, i. ye., about 60,0, revolutions per minute.

This meansvthat the series ofpairs of rollers increase their speedgradually toward the discharge end of the machine in relation t0 roller2.

Since the rollers` of each pair rotate in opposite directions,.in thepartwhere the. prongs. arey xed there is a passage for the' wool 6 whichis. carried from one pair of rollers to the next by means of the prongs.

As the rollers rotate, the prongs tend to carry the wool around withthem but, due to ther fact that the prongsof the subsequenty rollersoverlap those of the preceding ones, as a result ofthe rotational sense,this annuls the tendency of carrying the wool around and, in fact,forces the wool to run through a general passageway-between the twolrows of rollers which form thev series. This may be -graphically seen inFig. 1 which shows schematically how the belt 1 feeds wool 6 to the rstset of rollers a and set b carries the material towards the intermediaterunning plane; thus successively through all the subsequent rollers,which help to correct directional deviations of the wool, until reachingroller 2, the prongs of which, rotating at high speed, eject the woolonto the conveyor outlet belt 3.

Due to the existing differential progressive speeds, as shown in Fig. 3,the pair of rollers which forces the wool along by the angulardisplacement of its prongs, passes the material to the prongs of thefollowing pair of rollers which, being speedier, detaches the wool whichis still passing through the preceding rollers; thus every fleece ofwool running, for example, through the rst pair a, passes to the secondpair b which due to its greater speed produces a kind of subtraction,forcing the unloosening of the bodies which drop between the lirst pairof rollers; and the same occurs with rollers b which pass the materialto rollers c, which by a still greater speed produces further breseparation and unloosening. The wool, as it proceeds in its course, isbeing subjected to a progressive libre separation, so that when reachingthe last pair of rollers it is no longer present as lleece, but aslilaments or fibres separated from one another, practically forming aveil which, on arrival at the last unitary roller 2, is opened evenmore, as the high speed causes a scattering of the fibres in order toagain unite them on the conveyor belt 3, where they assume thecharacteristic of a thin veil.

In the initial run, when the wool 6 is transferred to the first pair ofrollers a its thickness is greater as it is formed by fleece; that iswhy the rst rollers possess a greater length of prongs 5, and, as it isprogressively separated, the wool forms a lighter carpet and itsthickness is reduced, and in proportion the radial length of prongs S isalso reduced. These as stated, form a diminishing gradient from thefirst set of rollers a to the last set of rollers i. The machine isprovided with a cover 7 forwardly of the dome-shaped cover 4, whilst inthe lower part of the machine there is a receptacle S with a collector 9provided with a conveyor 10.

' When the wool is opened and separated, the solid bodies i lose theirhold, and, as a result of the agitation by the rollers due to theirprogressive increase of speed, said solid bodies fall into receptacle 8,converging in collector 9 in order to bc eliminated by conveyor 10; thismeans that not only a perfect combing of wool is obtained, but also acertain cleaning and removal of adherent dirt and other foreign matter.

In certain cases, apart from the difference of speed of one pair ofrollers to the other, these may also be made to rotate at differentspeeds as between the two rollers of each pair, in order that the woolmay undergo alteration in each pair of rollers whilst passing to thenext pair of rollers. y

In carrying out the present invention, modifications may be introducedin details of construction or form of the described device, withoutdeparting from the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A combing machine comprising a series of pairs of rollers providedwith outwardly extending prongs, the rollers of each pair having likeprongs and the prongs of successive pairs decreasing in length from oneend of the machine to the other, the prongs of the rollers of each pairoverlapping so that the orbits of the points of the prongs of one rollerare secants with relation to the orbits of the points of the prongs ofthe other roller of the pair, and the points of the prongs of eachroller also having orbits intersecting the points of the prongs of thecorresponding roller of each adjacent pair, all rollers being driven bya transmission with differential speed means for driving each succeedingpair at a higher speed than the preceding pair, forming in the series aspeed gradient from low to high in the direction of decreasing pronglengths.

2. A combing machine in accordance with claim l, in which the rollers ofeach pair of rollers are mounted to rotate at the same speed.

3. A combing machine comprising a series of pairs of rollers providedwith outwardly extending prongs, the rollers of each pair having likeprongs and the prongs of successive pairs decreasing in length from oneend of the machine to the other, the prongs of the rollers of each pairoverlapping so that the orbits "of the points of the prongs of oneroller are secants with relation to the orbits of the points of theprongs of the other roller of the pair, and the points of the prongs ofeach roller also intersecting the orbits of the points of the prongs ofthe corresponding roller of each adjacent pair, a single pronged rollerbeyond the last pair of rollers of the series arranged to constitute adischarge element for combed fibres, all rollers being driven by atransmission with differential speed means for driving each succeedingpair at a higher speed than the preceding pair, forming in the series aspeed gradient from low to high in the direction of decreasing pronglengths, the said single discharge roller being also coupled to atransmission to rotate at a speed several times higher than that of thelast pair of rollers so that it is capable of releasing and dischargingcombed libres.

4. A combing machine comprising a series of pairs of rollers providedwith outwardly extending prongs, the rollers of each pair having likeprongs and the prongs of successive pairs decreasing in length from oneend of the machine to the other, the prongs of the rollers of each pairoverlapping so that the orbits of the points of the prongs of one rollerare secants with relation to the orbits of the points of the prongs ofthe other roller of the pair, and the points of the prongs of eachroller also intersecting the orbits ofthe points of the prongs of thecorresponding roller of each adjacent pair, a single pronged rollerbeyond the last pair of rollers of the series arranged to constitute adischarge element for combed fibres, all rollers being driven by atransmission with diterential speed means for driving each succeedingpair at a higher speed than the preceding pair, forming in the series aspeed gradient from low to high in the direction of decreasing l pronglengths, the said single discharge roller being also References Citedinthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,323,885 McBride Dec.2, 1919

